Universal TV journalist dies of injuries in Somalia

Nairobi, October 28,
2013--Journalist Mohamed Mohamud, commonly known as "Tima'ade," succumbed
to gunshot wounds on Saturday and died at Medina Hospital in the capital,
Mogadishu, local journalists told CPJ. Unidentified gunmen shot Mohamed, a
reporter for the popular, privately owned, U.K.-based Universal TV, on his way
to work on October 22 in the Wadajir district of Mogadishu.

Mohamed, who had
been shotsix
times in the neck, chest, and shoulder, died of internal bleeding around 10:30
p.m. on October 26, local journalists said. He was an outspoken journalist who
covered social and security issues in the capital, local journalists said. It
is not clear who carried out the attack, although a Twitter account
claiming to represent Islamist insurgent group Al-Shabaab took responsibility
for the shooting.

The Somali
government denounced the attack. On Twitter,
Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon said, "Government won't tolerate any
violence against journalists. There must be no impunity for these cowardly
thugs who want to take Somalia backwards."

"CPJ sends its
deepest sympathy to the family and colleagues of Mohamed Mohamud, the latest in
a string of brave young reporters to be killed in Somalia," said CPJ East
Africa Representative Tom Rhodes. "Condemning these killings is not enough--authorities
must do more to apprehend murderers who have struck with total impunity in
2013."

At least four
journalists and media workers have been murdered for their work in
Somalia this year, and no arrests have been made, according to media
reports. Somalia ranks second on CPJ's Impunity
Index, which spotlights countries where journalists are murdered regularly
and their killers go free.

Mohamed, 26, had
returned to Mogadishu from Nairobi in 2011. He was laid to rest on Sunday and
is survived by two wives and two daughters.